Leigh Kickboxing Studio

I have trained at Leigh Kickboxing Studio (http://www.leighkickboxing.com/) for about 8 months straight now and I guess it's time it gets a review. So here it is:

The owner and head instructor David Eckersley is a great guy, really friendly, never too busy to answer any questions you might need answering. From what I remember being told when I first joined he trained under Master A in Manchester and was an assistant instructor there before opening his own gym in Leigh.

The classes are run on an 8 week syllabus, four weeks of pad work followed by a grading day, three weeks of sparring, followed by stamina week followed by Sparring day, rinse and repeat.

Aliveness 6-8
Sparring for beginners is kept to medium contact single shot sparring with shin pads, body armour thing, sparring gloves and a kickboxing helmet.
Intensity increases as members become more proficient.

Equipment 7-9
Equipment quality ranges, all of the bags are kept firm and new there are two banana bags of differing... hardness? density? two heavy bags and two of those weird shaped bags for uppercuts and knees (you know what I mean... right? right?). Sparring gloves, bag gloves, helmets, shin protectors and body armour are there to be used and are well looked after and often replaced, though buying your own gear is encouraged. Thai pads and kick shields are often replaced and always in good condition. Also has a full ring, a multi-gym, treadmills, exercise bikes, kettlebells, medicine balls etc.

Gym Size 8
Classes never go above ten people and there is lots of room to train, even disregarding the fact that one group can always get in the ring.

Instructor/Student Ratio 9
Classes never go above ten people, head instructor teaches 99% of all classes, if not then Former IKF British and English Champion Tony Parker is teaching.

Atmosphere/Attitude 8
Everyone is great, I'm the biggest whiner, douche, lazy-ass pansy in every class by a large margin.

Striking Instruction 8
Striking instruction is great in my opinion. Constantly checked on and told what needs improvement and encouraged to compete in the sparring days with other schools often to test yourself and what you're learning.

Grappling Instruction ??
Head instructor also teaches Kudo, but I don't attend and so I cannot possibly comment.

^^Pretty badass. I wonder how they chose the track to that vid? They figured what badass song could adequately express the scope and volume of the Kudo? Well, that's easy only the most hardcore piece of music to ever grace the ears of 90s popculture. The Cranberries, "Zombie"! Fucking seriously? Terrible just terrible.

At least it's a break from the craptacular angsty teen testosterone drenched "Let the bodies hit the floor" by Drowning Pool. Thank god for that.